COURIER WIN HELPS HAVEN APPEAL

An ambitious appeal to create a purpose-built centre for children and young people with multiple and complex needs has received a £500 boost from the Inverness Courier’s award-winning editorial team.

The paper selected the Haven Appeal as the charity to benefit from the prize money after being named Newspaper of the Year at the annual Highlands and Islands Press Ball and Media Awards.

It has also chosen to support the £4 million appeal, launched by the Elsie Normington Foundation, to mark the Courier’s 200th anniversary.

The aim is to develop the Haven Centre on a site at Smithton, providing facilities for people up to the age of 30. As well as respite care, it will include a community café, play centres, garden, meeting rooms and offices.

Andrew Grzesinski, chairman of the Haven Appeal committee, and Elsie Normington called in at the paper’s New Century House base to receive the cheque from David Bourn, editorial director of SPP.

​MS CENTRE HELPED BY JOURNALIST OF YEAR DONATION

The Orkney MS Therapy Centre has scooped a £300 cash boost thanks to Highlands and Islands Journalist of the Year Craig Taylor.

Craig, a senior reporter with the Orcadian, picked up his award, sponsored by Diageo, at the Highlands and Islands Press Ball and Media Awards on 2 February.

The prize includes £500, of which £300 is gifted to a charity of the winner’s choice. Craig gave his donation to the centre in Kirkwall, which last year conducted 650 sessions of physiotherapy, 207 sessions in the hyperbaric chamber and 341 massages for people living with MS.

Craig also won the Reporter of the Year title and was shortlisted for Sports Reporter of the Year.

​CHARITIES TO BENEFIT FROM ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS PRESS BALL AND MEDIA AWARDS

Four charities are to benefit from the 30th annual edition of the Highlands and Islands Press Ball and Media Awards, the only event that brings together colleagues from across a huge and dispersed region.

Some 250 media representatives, politicians and heads of public and private organisations attended the event, organised by Inverness-based communications company System2.

The ball attracts journalists from Shetland to Argyll and from Moray to the Outer Hebrides serving print, broadcast and online media.

Principal sponsor of the evening was Diageo, with additional support from System2, Chivas Brothers, HighNet, the National Union of Journalists, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

The event’s fundraising will benefit four local charities - Alzheimer Scotland, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), Highland Heart Failure Service and The Oxygen Works, created by the MS Therapy Centre​The ball has now raised £100,000 for good causes, with all the money staying in the Highlands and Islands.

CRAIG TAYLOR NAMED JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR AT HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS MEDIA AWARDS ​

Craig Taylor, a senior reporter with the Orcadian, has been named Diageo Journalist of the Year at the annual Highlands and Islands Media Awards.

Craig was the unanimous choice of the judges for his strength of writing across a number of categories. He won the Reporter of the Year title, which comes with the Jim Love Memorial Award, and was also shortlisted for Sports Reporter of the Year.

His prize, which includes £500, of which £300 will be gifted to a charity of his choice, was presented at the annual Highlands and Islands Press Ball in Inverness.Judges chairman Gordon Fyfe said: “Craig demonstrated a consistently high standard of work in researching and delivering strong readable human interest stories across news, sport and features. He is a committed, hard-working and accurate journalist who is a credit to the Orcadian and its readership.”

The BBC collected three honours. Eilidh Macleod won the Bòrd na Gàidhlig award for Best Use of Gaelic; Andrew Thomson, was named Feature Writer of the Year; and a joint entry from David Delday and Robbie Fraser, from Radio Orkney, and Jane Moncrieff, from Radio Shetland, won the Sports Reporter of the Year title.

​The Inverness Courier was named Newspaper of the Year and one of its reporters, Nicole Webber, was crowned Young Journalist of the Year, collecting the Alex Main Trophy, named after a former Courier editor.

Hebrides Writer Katie Laing, who was shortlisted in three categories, scooped the prize for Top Story of the Year for her coverage of the David v Goliath windfarm dispute in Lewis, between local crofters and international developers.

Shetland-based freelance Malcolm Younger was named Photographer of the Year, and the Top Shot of the Year was taken by Inverness freelance photographer Paul Campbell for his dramatic photo of mountain biker Luca Cometti crashing out of the finals of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William.

Inverness Gigs won the award for Best Use of Digital Media and Mallaig-based West Word was named Community Newspaper of the Year.

The former editor of the Norther Scot, Mike Collins, also received the Barron Trophy for lifelong achievement in journalism.

The awards were presented by Keith Miller, Distillation and Maturation Director of Diageo, the principal sponsor of the Highlands and Islands Press Ball and Media Awards, held at the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness.

The event was organised by Inverness-based communications company System2, with other sponsorship this year provided by HighNet, Chivas Brothers, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the National Union of Journalists and Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

The ball’s charity fundraising will benefit four local organisations: Alzheimer Scotland, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), Highland Heart Failure Service and The Oxygen Works, created by the MS Therapy Centre

The full list of award winners is -

Best Use of GaelicEilidh Macleod, An Là

Best Use of Digital MediaInverness Gigs

Young Journalist of the Year (Alex Main Trophy)Nicole Webber, Scottish Provincial Press

Diageo Journalist of the Year Craig Taylor, Orcadian​Barron Trophy for Lifetime Achievement in JournalismMike Collins

HIGHNET COMES ON LINE AS MAJOR PRESS BALL SPONSOR

Leading telecoms service provider HighNet has become a major sponsor of the Press Ball and will provide significant support for our charity fundraising efforts.

​The company, which has its headquarters in Inverness, manages more than 20,000 business lines and has Scotland’s first business-only next-generation IP network.​ DIAGEO PUT THE DRAM INTO AWARDS DRAMA Our long-standing supporter, Diageo will again be principal sponsor of the ball and the Highlands and Islands Media Awards.

​As well as assistance with the awards, Diageo will also be providing the pre-ball cocktails and after-dinner drinks.

We are extremely grateful that this long-running partnership is continuing. Who would have thought an association between journalists and a drinks company would have such longevity?

CHIVAS KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING Another long-time supporter, Chivas Brothers, will again be an integral part of the ball.

In addition to sponsoring our resident band, the Black Isle Peas, Chivas Brothers has again assisted with our charity fundraising efforts by providing invaluable support for our tombola, raffle and auction.

​Our other sponsors Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the National Union of Journalists ensure the ball and media awards continues as a high-quality event while ticket prices are kept to a minimum.

Welcome to HIPBMA 2018

The Highlands and Islands Press Ball and Media Awards brings together colleagues from Shetland, Orkney, the Outer Hebrides, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness, Nairn, Moray, Strathspey, Lochaber, Argyll and Skye, as well as from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and beyond